Martin Sets Pocono Mark After Early Wake-up Call * $1.2 Million Nascar Race Begins At 1 P.m. Today With Shepherd Next To Pole-sitter.

July 21, 1996|by JOHN JAY FOX, The Morning Call

Obviously, Mark Martin is a morning person.

With other drivers complaining of the early wake-up call for yesterday's rescheduled 9 a.m. qualifying session, the Valvoline Ford Thunderbird driver had his eyes wide open to capture the pole for today's $1.2 million NASCAR Winston Cup Miller 500 (1 p.m. TBS) at Pocono Raceway.

He also gained a smidgen of revenge.

More often than not at Long Pond, Martin's number has shone from atop the scoring tower only to get bumped by the likes of Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace.

Yesterday, however, Martin's 168.410 mph sprint held up to 40 challenges for an event record and his 30th career pole. He'll start from the inside of Row 1 for the second time this year and has a hat trick at Pocono.

Morgan Shepherd will be to the right of Martin on Row 1 with Bobby Labonte starting third, Geoff Bodine fourth and Ward Burton fifth as a result of their best 1995 qualifying runs. Labonte posted his seventh consecutive Top 10 start and 11th in 17 races.

With cars set up for Friday's afternoon heat, drivers were faced with cool morning temperatures -- 54 degrees at 8:50 a.m. -- and a brisk wind that gusted to over 20 mph.

"More often than not we get a good lap here and somebody always gets one a little bit better," said Martin who has started second three times and third on four occasions at the 2-1/2-mile tri-oval. "Schrader has put us on the outside pole a number of times here; (the late Alan) Kulwicki done it to us too. We have several more outside poles than poles.

"When I have the fastest lap, I always expect someone to beat me. Therefore, I don't get my heart broken since I've had it broken so many times before," Martin said. "That's my strategy for not being disappointed no matter how fast a lap I turn."

In 1993, Schrader was the last car to qualify. He bumped Martin from first.

Of his internal clock and the early go, Martin -- a fitness freak who's up at the crack of dawn -- explained, "Obviously, it wasn't difficult for me."

Berwick's Jimmy Spencer, who qualified 18th, hit the nail on the head. "The track is in excellent shape, but I don't think the drivers were ready for it."

"Most drivers are lazy and don't get up before 9:30 or 10 o'clock," noted Kyle Petty, who added "they woke us up at 7 and brought us out and told us we had to run fast right off the bat. That made it tough." Petty qualified 26th.

Martin kept an eye on the results of the 14 cars that rolled onto the super speedway before him. "I was afraid that for some reason the track wasn't so fast. When I started down the front straightaway to take the green flag, I knew we were running fast and I knew that the thing I needed to do most was not make a mistake -- not overdrive the car."

The Arkansas driver was not spectacular in Turn 1, but had terrific speed down the Long Pond straight to the tunnel turn while bucking a strong head wind. Following a conservative run over the tunnel, Martin rocketed down the short chute and had the perfect setup for the final turn.

"The wind wasn't a major factor in the corners. I mainly noticed it on the straightaway speed. It was 5 mph faster than a no wind situation. We just got a real good lap. I just worried we left a little bit on the table for others," Martin explained.

"We had more competitive cars in the first half last year than this year and the race team has managed to turn the corner on that and the results are starting to show."

In one stretch, Martin finished no better than 21st. After three straight Top 10s, the Jack Roush Ford slipped to 40th at Dover rebounding with a fourth at Pocono last month and seventh at Michigan.

In his last two races, the winless Martin ended 11th and 33rd.

"I think that we are gaining momentum every race. We're going to have a real typical (strong) second half. We've due for some good luck and good fortune."

Bobby Labonte was the ninth car out for the delayed trials ripping off a 167.479 sprint to jump to the top of the heap in the early going. Just one car before, Dale Earnhardt -- who will start his 500th consecutive Winston Cup event today -- was the first to top 166 mph. "I felt good for as bad as I drove the lap," Earnhardt said.

Jeff Gordon, who won the Pocono pole last month with a track record 169.725 mph, could only manage a 166.248 mph to grid 15th. "It doesn't get much worse than that for me," he said. "I thought the cool weather might help us, but it looks like it might have hurt. I didn't get through the tunnel near as quick as I wanted to. I didn't get the most out of the car."

Jeff Burton became fourth fastest -- for a while -- moments later and 30 minutes into the trials, Martin bettered Bobby Labonte by an awesome 3/10th of a second.

After a host of cars posted speeds only good enough for mid-field, Shepherd moved to the outside of the front row, Ricky Rudd grabbed seventh, Ward Burton fifth and Derrike Cope 10th. Cope started second last month at Long Pond.

Shepherd then edged Bobby Labonte by 3/1000th of a second for the outside of Row 1.